[SOLVED] can't run wmv files in VLC player

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sigma957
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[SOLVED] can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by sigma957 »

I have wmv files I want to play. On my Debian computer it works. Won't work on mint. I do have the multimedia codecs installed. Is there a different package I should look for? Thanks
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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shedyed
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Re: can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by shedyed »

Instead of dragging and dropping the file into the player, why not start vlc from the terminal? That way, we can see the diagnostic messages vlc spits out while attempting to play the file. You can then post a screenshot (or paste the messages in a pastebin.) All your codecs could be up-to-date, but with multimedia the goalposts are always moving. We can then see what the real problem is. Most of the time, all you have to enter would be vlc media-clip-name.wmv
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Termy
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Re: can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by Termy »

To expand on what the above poster said:

Browse to the folder in which your WMV file(s) is stored, right-click somewhere in that window — not on an icon, but in the area where icons are displayed — to bring up a menu, then click Open in Terminal. It should look a bit like this:

image.jpg
image.jpg (33.12 KiB) Viewed 1514 times

You should now have a terminal open and it should be at that directory (what the aforementioned folder visually represents). Now run vlc FILE, where 'FILE' is actually meant to be the full filename, such as 'super-cool-video.wmv'. Make sure you use the correct case. Paste the output you see between [code][/code] tags so we can see what's going on.
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RollyShed
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Re: can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by RollyShed »

sigma957 wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 1:12 pmI have wmv files I want to play.
I don't have wmv files so took an mp4 and using Mobile Media Converter, turned an mp4 into a wmv file. Celluloid (default on this computer) played it. Then opened in VLC and it played it just as well.

So?

One option would be to use MMC and convert everything to mp4. Simply drag and drop everything into, check "Convert to MP4", hit Convert and go and make a cup of coffee.
sigma957
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Re: can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by sigma957 »

Termy wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 5:38 pm To expand on what the above poster said:

Browse to the folder in which your WMV file(s) is stored, right-click somewhere in that window — not on an icon, but in the area where icons are displayed — to bring up a menu, then click Open in Terminal. It should look a bit like this:


image.jpg


You should now have a terminal open and it should be at that directory (what the aforementioned folder visually represents). Now run vlc FILE, where 'FILE' is actually meant to be the full filename, such as 'super-cool-video.wmv'. Make sure you use the correct case. Paste the output you see between [code][/code] tags so we can see what's going on.
[code] VLC media player 3.0.9.2 Vetinari (revision 3.0.9.2-0-gd4c1aefe4d)
[000055eb3ad685b0] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
qt5ct: using qt5ct plugin
qt5ct: D-Bus global menu: no
qt5ct: D-Bus system tray: yes[/code]
mikeflan
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Re: can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by mikeflan »

VLC media player 3.0.9.2 Vetinari (revision 3.0.9.2-0-gd4c1aefe4d)
[000055eb3ad685b0] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
qt5ct: using qt5ct plugin
qt5ct: D-Bus global menu: no
qt5ct: D-Bus system tray: yes
I see no obvious errors listed, but I gather the video did not play.
In my case my video plays and I get this output from the terminal:

Code: Select all

$ vlc '/media/mike/main1/DDrive/Pics/2010-11 - Other/racisme1.wmv'
VLC media player 3.0.8 Vetinari (revision 3.0.8-0-gf350b6b5a7)
[000055e716d1f570] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[00007fe4f8c12150] avcodec decoder: Using NVIDIA VDPAU Driver Shared Library  470.103.01  Thu Jan  6 12:11:03 UTC 2022 for hardware decoding
[00007fe4f8c12150] avcodec decoder error: existing hardware acceleration cannot be reused
[00007fe4f8c12150] avcodec decoder: Using NVIDIA VDPAU Driver Shared Library  470.103.01  Thu Jan  6 12:11:03 UTC 2022 for hardware decoding
[00007fe4f8c12150] avcodec decoder error: existing hardware acceleration cannot be reused
[00007fe4f8c12150] avcodec decoder: Using NVIDIA VDPAU Driver Shared Library  470.103.01  Thu Jan  6 12:11:03 UTC 2022 for hardware decoding
[00007fe4f8c12150] avcodec decoder error: existing hardware acceleration cannot be reused
QObject::~QObject: Timers cannot be stopped from another thread
$
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Re: can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by iliketrains »

sigma957 wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 1:12 pm I have wmv files I want to play. On my Debian computer it works. Won't work on mint. I do have the multimedia codecs installed. Is there a different package I should look for? Thanks
My understanding is the vlc package includes it's own codecs. Assuming vlc was installed in the usual way you should be covered for most formats.
Using vlc 3.0.9.2 and 12yr old intel integrated graphics the .wmv file available below plays.
https://archive.org/download/windowsmov ... samplefile
.wmv extension indicates a container so other .wmv files may not play on this relic.
My wag is a difference in graphics drivers between the 2 computers but that is a wag and no real help.

Edit/ wmv as a container is obsolete, it's now a codec. The file in the link above is better described as .asf. The "file" command wasn't fooled.
Just wiping up a mess.
Last edited by iliketrains on Thu May 19, 2022 11:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
sigma957
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Re: can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by sigma957 »

Well, thanks for the responses. On Debian, I use XFCE and there is a new media player for it, called Parole. Dumb name, but I installed it on Mint and the files play just fine. I will say I've used Linux since the early days of Red Hat, and a lot of distros in between. Mint is a very good one.
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Termy
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Re: SOLVED can't run wmv files in VLC player

Post by Termy »

Have you tried different WMV videos to rule out a broken video? I ask because you say you have "files" (plural) but then state "it" (singular) doesn't work, so I'm not 100% sure. It's easy to chase your tail when trying to fix a problem. :roll:
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